A Salty Boy
by LunaNorah
Summary: On a field trip to a local pool, Dudley Dursley is hit with an idea brilliant to only those inclined to bully others. It just so happens that his idea has unseen consequences. -Or- In which Harry Potter is lost to the sea.
1. ChapterOne

The blissful silence that had descended upon the small house of Number Four Privet Drive was suddenly and sharply demolished the moment a rounded seven-year-old boy barged in with a disturbing squeal. "Mum! I'm home!"

The woman of the house, Petunia Dursley, didn't seemed fazed by this despicable behavior, even going so far as to get up from her seat at the kitchen table to wrap her son in a warm hug. However, she did deign to shoot a disgusted glare at the small, haggard boy that trudged in through the door moments later. This small boy by the name of Harry Potter, merely glanced at his aunt as she fussed over his cousin, Dudley Dursley, before walking around them and through the living room to the kitchen. "Dinner will be meat and two vegetables, boy. Vernon will be home soon, so I suggest you get to work."

The small Potter child nodded his head when the sharp, shrill voice of his aunt faded away. Harry began bringing out the ingredients as he politely responded. "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Petunia huffed as she turned her attention away from her freakish nephew and smiled at her darling son. "How was your day, Duddydums?"

The large child wriggling in the woman's grip scrunched his face up in displeasure at being called such a degrading nickname, and elected to ignore her question. "Mum, I want to go to the beach!"

Petunia winced at her sweetum's loud voice and then frowned as she thought about his request. "I don't know Dudders, the ocean is a bit far away. I'd have to talk to your dad."

The fat child's eyes started to water as he sniffed pitifully. "But Mum..!"

Petunia's face grew horrified as she noticed her sweet child's distress and rushed to abate it. "No, no- it's okay Dudders, I'll make sure Vernon agrees. We'll go to the beach and have so much fun- your parents just have to figure out when."

In seconds Dudley went from tearing up to smiling happily. "Really? Thanks Mum." The manipulative little devil skipped up to his room seconds later, his purpose achieved, leaving Petunia to fall gracelessly into a nearby living room chair, inaudibly sighing in stress.

The Potter nephew shook his head as he continued to finish the evening meal.

-

"Do you have everything packed, Sweetums?" Dudley slid into the back seat of Vernon Dursley's car and buckled in, making sure to jab his elbows in his freakish cousin whenever an opportunity presented itself. After he had situated his large bulk, the seven-year-old deigned to respond.

"Yes Mum. I have all my gear."

A great big man chuckled as he managed to sit down in the driver's seat. Harry winced as he heard the car creak with the added ton, but made no comment to his uncle's ginormous body weight. "Thatta boy. Following after your dad by always being prepared, huh? Don't worry then, we'll be to the beach soon enough. Just have to drop off the Freak first."

Dudley sat for a few minutes in confusion as his father started the car and drove out onto the street, headed in the direction of the Dursley's go-to nanny, Mrs. Fig. Petunia was sitting in the front passenger seat, idly looking through a magazine and Harry was staring out the back window, frowning at the passing scenery. "But Dad..."

Vernon glanced in the rear view mirror at his son in confusion, noticing the distress commonly found when he didn't get what he wanted. "What's the matter, son?"

"I want to take the freak with us." Vernon's heart nearly stalled as he pulled the car over to the side of the road suddenly. Sharing an askance look with his Pet, Vernon craned his neck to get a look at his disgusting nephew. "If you think you can get away with whatever you did to my son, boy, you're in for a rude awakening. Take whatever... thing... you did to my son off right this instant and maybe I won't starve you for the next week."

Harry was now staring at his uncle in horror, confusion and terror rendering him mute.

"Well? Say something boy!"

Harry could only shake his head rapidly as he shrunk against the locked car door.

"Oh? So you didn't do something to him? Did you threaten him then? If he doesn't make us take you with him then you'll turn him into a frog or some such nonsense?" Petunia scowled at her nephew as she thought up similar scenarios, having known he was no good the moment she saw him.

"I-I-I-" Harry still could not get out a sentence to defend himself, as the thought of whatever kind of punishment awaited him the moment his relatives got home played nightmares in his head.

Neither parent had been paying attention to Dudley, and that was apparently too much for the selfish child, even if he did enjoy his cousin getting into trouble. "Mummy, Dad, he didn't do anything to me. I just want to bring him along."

Vernon and Petunia glanced at each other once more before turning to look at their sweet son in sync. "And why would that be, son? Surely you'll be fine at the beach without him?"

Dudley looked both his parents in the eyes blankly, wondering how stupid they could be. "If he's not there, then who's sandcastle am I going to destroy?"

Vernon gaped silently for a second before chuckling and pulling the car out and around. "Of course, Duds. Competition is the key to being a good salesman. I'm proud of you. But Freak, Of you try anything..."

Harry quailed under his uncle's dark glare, nodding his head frantically, before returning to looking out the window. Suppressing his confusion and worry, Harry tried his best not to let any of the Dursleys see just how excited he was to be allowed to the beach. A beach! He had never been before. Would the sand be all sparkly and soft like in those ads Aunt Petunia always watched on the telly? And the water- would it be as clear as those pictures of cresting waves he saw in adventure books? He had so many questions!

-

When the Dursleys and Harry arrived at the beach, they all clambered out of the car as fast as they could, each and every one in some way, shape, or form excited for what the day would bring.

It was a warm and bright Saturday, with a touch of a breeze promising a cool refresher from the scorching heat of the sun. The beach sand was soft and warm beneath their bare feet as the 'family' found an open spot on the fairly crowded beach. It wasn't too terribly covered, but just enough where everyone had tried to find their own separate area, and taken up most of the sand that was closest to the water.

Petunia humphed lightly to herself as Vernon scowled at the nearby couples, trying to subtly kick sand at them. After a few moments two of the nearest groups growled and walked off, shooting glares at the fat walrus and skinny horse as they attempted to find another nice spot to enjoy.

Vernon smiled proudly as he laid out a large towel, quite sloppily, and showed it off to his Pet. "It's lovely dear. I'm sure this will do splendidly. Come Dudders, you just need some sun cream and then you'll be off into the waves."

The young buffoon grumbled as he stood, caught in the sharp grip his rather particular mother had on his arm. Dudley was obviously not happy with the arrangement, and managed to take off the moment his mother turned her back. Ignoring her cries for him to come back, the big child waddled into the surf, snickering evilly.

Harry, abandoned from the first steps out of the car, had by now wandered over to a more secluded area of the beach where jagged rocks and seaweed were much more common. Carrying a small pail Dudley has discarded several birthdays ago, the little Potter picked up pretty rocks and random seashells that caught his interest.

Looking inside the tip of a conch, Harry nearly squealed in delight as he saw a small crab blink up at him. The small child stood enraptured by the even smaller being he held in his hand as it scuttled deeper into its shell. After a few minutes, the seven-year-old made sure to gently put the crab's home back on the ground before going back to his search.

-

After his adventurous time searching for lost riches, Harry was called back to the Dursley's by a bored Dudley, and forced to compete in a sand-building contest which was rigged from the start. In the end, it hadn't even mattered anyway, as the Great Dudders accidentally ruined his castle before it could be finished and thus had to destroy Harry's as well.

Pushing down the sadness of having his sandcastle desecrated, the little boy turned his attention back to his overbearing cousin, who was currently dragging him off into the sea. Obviously neither of the seven-year-olds paid attention to how far out they ran, and Dudley finally declared the depth perfect when Harry was struggling to stay afloat. The big potato had at one point been equipped with an embarrassing amount of floaties, but now Harry couldn't help but envy his disgusting cousin. As Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had never truly cared for him, there was absolutely no way they would've paid or personally taught their freakish nephew how to swim.

"Harry! Harry, behind you!"

The young boy whipped around at the frantic sound of Dudley's voice, water splashing from the flailing of his arms. Seeing nothing, Harry frantically spun around, searching for danger, before he saw Dudley snickered a few feet off.

Cursing his cousin, the seven-year-old tried to calm his racing heart as it pounded wildly in his ears. How could he have been fooled by one of the oldest tricks in the book? It wasn't as if Dudley didn't pull that one at least once a day.

Shaking his head lightly, the scrawny kid tried to tread water in a direction away from where he had last spotted Dudley, as the little miscreant had disappeared as soon as Harry turned his head back around.

Feeling something brush against his leg, Harry jerked lightly, before looking down through the blurry water. A small, bright shape was darting around Harry's legs, and the small child smiled in wonder.

A few moments later, however, the little fishie darted off. Looking through the water for his little friend, Harry spied a large, dark shape swimming towards him. Deciding to take the fish's lead, Harry tried his best to remember the swimming moves he had seen processionals do on the telly, but the shape was getting closer to him quicker than Harry could attempt to get away.

Fear froze the small boy as something cold clamped around Harry's ankle and yanked him down below the surface of the water. Trying to take in air to scream, Harry started choking, as water rushed into his lungs. He hacked and coughed blindly for a few moments before the hold on his ankle was released and he scrambled his way up for air.

Breaching the surface, Harry sloppily treaded water as he tried to get his breathing back under control. With a hand on his chest and the other helping him stay afloat, the scrawny seven-year-old turned watery eyes around to look for his attacker. Sure enough, Harry spotted Dudley floating a few feet from him with a malicious smile on his face.

Determined to not let his bratty cousin ruin his one chance at enjoying the beach, the little Potter doggy-paddled away to a nearby outcropping of rocks, wondering if he could find any more creatures living in the hidden crevices.

-

As it turned out, there were many different little sea animals living in the rocks off of the beach. Harry found some crabs, sponges, and all sorts of little fish. Poking inside a crevice he hadn't explored yet, Harry yelped when he withdrew his hand and an eel followed.

"_Human! Quick! Swim away! Don't hurt me!"_

Harry stared after the water snake in confusion as it disappeared over a drop off on the ocean floor. The little human could have sworn he had just heard a voice. Jerking up with realization, Harry narrowed his eyes as he searched for Dudley. The big meanie was always playing games on him.

Finding a dark shape coming towards him from that drop off, Harry frowned in annoyance. Dudley must have been hiding underneath the ledge, waiting for him to turn his back, but the little eel scared him into action.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Harry ducked his head under the water to confront the terrible sneak, only to nearly shriek when he realized that the dark shape wasn't Dudley.

Instead of fear freezing him as it had earlier that day, it ignited his flight instincts. With nowhere to run behind him, Harry did his best to swim around the shark, keeping his moments minimum like the teacher had said. 'The more movement you make, the more interested they are in you.' He couldn't just stay still though, there was a shark right there.

The white-tipped sea creature turned its body to follow Harry's odd path, pushing the little human to scrambling farther out and past the sea floor's drop off.

Without being able to touch ground anymore, Harry couldn't help his flailing as he fought to keep his head above the water, while the shark was still incoming.

Unable to think through his rapidly increasing panic with the shark getting too close, one of Harry's thrashing legs knocked into the shark. The little human's heart skipped a beat before a scream tore from his lips. It didn't matter that he couldn't breathe. It didn't matter that he was inhaling water. All that Harry could think about was the pain.

The shark was lashing and so was he. Fighting to defend. Fighting to survive. The two creatures slowly sunk in the watery depths just as the human, too, sunk into unconsciousness.

Only a wish could save Harry now.


	2. ChapterTwo

A desire to live. That was all that Harry wanted, and it was the only thing his magic needed.

-

Had any scuba divers decided to explore the reefs around the English Channel a few days after the freak shark attack, they would have been treated to an unnatural and disturbing sight. A small boy, who looked disturbingly similar to the photo all over the news, laid in the sand. However, instead of being stock still and pale as a corpse, the boy's chest moved as if he was breathing. He had strange slashes rounding his eyebrow ridge, behind his ears, and trailing down the nape of his neck which widened with each inhale. His feet twitched as he laid there, as if he were dreaming. One foot was roughly normal, but the other wasn't quite right. It was slimmer and longer than the regular foot, as well as less thick, as if the skin had been stretched too far. There weren't really any toes either; the skin ended in several small, separate points.

What would have been more peculiar, still, had anyone seen this 'human', was his awakening. The twitches, which had been going on steadily for some hours now, eventually started to slow, until over the course of a half an hour, they stopped. The boy laid on the sea floor with a relaxed pose, before his entire body tensed, and a pair of eyelids flew open, revealing a secondary transparent membrane surrounding electric green eyes.

The boy sat up as curiosity filled those bright eyes, and, rather than wonder about how he was breathing under water or how he had survived a shark attack, Harry smiled and looked around in wonder.

Fish swam around him, ignoring him as they did everything else. Water gently floated by causing the nearby seaweed to sway in its current. Soft echoes of distant creatures traveled in the dark water. The seven-year-old felt comfort for what felt like the first time in his life. To be a part of something and yet not looked down on was a tranquil memory he would savor for a long time. However, he knew he couldn't stay in the comforting darkness for long. He needed to get back to his Aunt and Uncle.

Even if they didn't really like him, they gave him a place to stay. Harry didn't know how to cook in an ocean. How would he eat? He couldn't make a fire underwater, and he'd never had raw meat before. The little Potter thought he remembered Aunt Petunia saying something about that being very bad for you too.

Mind made up, Harry pushed himself the rest of the way up until he was standing on the sandy bottom, his large swimsuit billowing around his figure in the current. Attempting to take his first step, however, was a terrible mistake. He tripped over his left foot and free-floated to the floor.

Ignoring the odd sensation of tripping in water, Harry finally noticed the effect of the shark attack. His left foot was... disfigured. It didn't look like a foot anymore. Flexing his toes, or what he thought were toes, Harry frowned. That might make walking around a problem.

Shaking his head in annoyance, the little Potter decided to try to swim back to the beach, rather than attempt to walk underwater again. He bunched himself up on the sandy ground before propelling himself upwards, kicking his feet as hard as he could. Harry veered off to the right almost immediately, and nearly crashed back into the sand. And so, the trial and error of learning to swim began.

-

Finally finding the best way to push himself through the water, Harry smiled widely as he swam towards sunlight. The bright water hurt his eyes a bit, as he must have been in the dark for quite some time, but the boy knew he'd get used to it again.

Deciding to have a bit of fun, Harry burst straight up through the water with a laugh, only for it to choke off into a hacking cough as he sunk back under the water. Trying to regain his breath, and having a brief sense of dejavu, Harry suddenly figured it might not be best to go back on land. With his foot, and now his breathing, he didn't know if he would even be able to live outside the water.

Taking a look around, past the few fish and rocks he could see, Harry also realized that he didn't know where the beach was. The last thing he remembered before passing out was being a few feet from the rocks and only a bit away from the beach, but now he couldn't even see where that drop off had been. Maybe he had drifted farther than he thought while he was unconscious?

Suddenly feeling very anxious, Harry wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. He had no where to go, and he didn't know how to get food. How was he going to survive?

Closing his eyes for a second, the boy told himself to breath. Just because he was in an unknown place didn't mean that he was going to die. He just needed to be like Mowgli and follow the animals' lead.

Plan set and panic attack abated, Harry swam towards the biggest patch of fish he could see, hoping to find something he could eat without getting sick.

-

As it turned out, Harry hadn't had to go far before he heard voices, as odd as that was to consider when being underwater. Following the drone of what seemed to be an argument, Harry grew excited. Had he stumbled upon some people that were swimming around here? Would they be able to help him?

Getting closer and closer to the voices, Harry could discern that it was two different people. One sounded excited while the other was rather grumpy. Casting his eyes around, Harry frowned when he couldn't spot anyone. There were a few fish milling around, two eels, and a nice reef, but no humans. And yet, Harry could still hear the voices.

_"I want the food! I'm hungry!"_

_"I don't care, we don't know what that is, so we're not eating it."_

Frowning thougtfully, Harry remembered the voice he had heard before... The little Potter suddenly realized he didn't know how long had passed since he had been at the beach.

_"But there is no food around here! And it looks so tasty!"_

Pushing those thoughts away, Harry turned to inspect the eels closer. The two water snakes were looking at each other, but how could they be talking?

"_We're not eating it."_

The right eel's mouth had opened! So they _were_ the ones talking?

"_But I want to!"_

Harry smiled in excitement before swimming closer. As he approached the two eels, they both turned to look at him and promptly fled into a nearby reef. The smile disappearing from his face, Harry called out.

"Wait! Please! I need help!"

Harry frowned as he approached the small crevice, eyes searching for the two little wormy fish in the darkness.

"_Was that a human?"_

_"Yes, let's wait in here until it leaves. It is dangerous."_

_"Oh! I wanna see it!"_

_"Wha- no. Absolutely not. Get back here!"_

Harry giggled as he watched two heads pop out of the small hole. Silver and gold eyes watched him as he smothered his laughter. _"Hello. There's no need to worry, I don't mean you any harm."_

Both eels reared back as if struck, their tiny heads barely poking out of their hiding place. "_It talks!"_

_"Indeed. Can you understand us, human?"_

Harry smiled brightly, glad the snipe eels weren't trying to swim away from him now. "_Yeah. Aren't you just speaking English though? I don't know how we're talking under water, but this is pretty cool..."_

The silver eel shook its teensy head as it regarded the human. "_No, we are not able to speak the human tongue. You, human, are speaking ours."_

Harry's eyes widened in excitement as the yellow-eyed snipe eel came out of the hole entirely to swim around his body. "_Yeah! I'm not really sure this is cold, but now we have someone to fend off those bigger, mean fish!"_ At this comment, the blue snipe eel turned to his companion still in the crevice with what seemed to be a pleading stare. "_We _can_ keep it, right?"_

The silver snipe eel gave off a noise resembling a hum as it's eyes roamed Harry's body. _"Maybe. It all depends on how it behaves. Tell me, human, do you know how to hunt?"_

Suddenly nervous he was about to get rejected from such a nice pair of fish- that could talk, who knew?- Harry gently scratched at the hair on the top of his head and smiled crookedly. "_Kinda? I know how to cook above water, but I don't know what is okay to eat down here."_

The silver-eyed eel looked over the boy a few more times before it nodded, coming out of its hiding spot almost reluctantly. "_You will do, but first we have to figure out what you can and cannot eat. I doubt krill will be enough to satisfy one of your size. Come, let us go."_

The yellow-eyed eel cheered as it swam around Harry's head, and the little Potter couldn't help but feel acceptance soothe his hurt heart as he swam off, deeper into the depths of the ocean.


	3. ChapterThree

**_Just to let y'all know, all of the speaking in this chapter will be in Parseltongue._**

"Try this one! It looks like something a fish your size would eat!"

Harry looked at the fat sea worm crawling on the ocean floor in disgust. It looked so alive and... squirmy. "I don't know..."

"Of course not, you idiot eel. He's a small human. Small humans don't eat that much."

If snipe eels could frown, Harry most certainly knew that the golden eel would be. "I didn't know that. I've never seen a human eat before."

The silver snipe eel circled closer around the golden one as they floated around Harry. "Indeed. You're just an inexperienced little egg."

"Hey! I'm not an egg!"

Harry couldn't help but giggle at the two's banter.

-

"Whoa." Harry stopped swimming to look at the pod of dolphins passing by. They were all so majestic, gliding through the currents on silvery fins and chattering at each other.

"Don't look at them like that, Human. Their egos are already inflated, any more compliments and they'll start flying rather than swimming."

Harry giggled at the image while the golden eel continued to watch the pod. The eel broke his state to ask the silver eel a question. "They're young, like me, right?"

The silver eel almost seemed to roll his eyes, and Harry would have believed he did, had that not been biologically impossible for eels to do. "Yes. Only they do not like anyone who doesn't speak their language. Outsiders are not allowed to swim with the pod."

Harry pouted as he watched the pod get further and further away from him. He really wanted to swim with the dolphins.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea sprung into the seven-year-old's head. "Can you please teach me how to speak Dolphin?" the little Potter pleaded, his bright eyes wide with hope.

A few moments later, Harry was sure that whoever had said eels couldn't roll their eyes had never met one.

-

"I'm going to name you both Snap and Snoop!" The silver eel turned small eyes onto the human swimming next to him, an exasperated light shining in them.

"What ever possessed you to create such ludicrous names for us? I have never expressed a desire to have an address."

Harry gently grabbed onto the silver tail of the newly-dubbed Snap, eyes gliding over his own webbed fingers to the smooth scales of his companion.

"Because! I need something to call you, and it fits! You like to snap at me and Snoop."

The eel wriggled out of Harry's hold, turning a stink eye on the seven-year-old child. "'Snoop and I', you human."

Before Harry could think up a retort, Snoop jumped into the conversation.

"Oh! Why am I named Snoop then? Is it because I'm so stealthy? The best predator around?"

Hardy laughed as the gold eel twirled in front of his glowing eyes, it's voice exuberant. "You're Snoop because you can't keep your fin out of everyone else's business!"

The golden eel slid around Harry's neck, tightening lightly as he laughed. "Oh yeah? Well I'm still the best predator!"

Harry giggled in delight, bubbles escaping his fanged mouth.

-

Harry hummed lightly in contentment as he nibbled on his leftovers from the night before. After much consideration, he had forced himself to eat raw fish, and it hadn't tasted as bad as he had feared. Over time, there had been no ill effects either, so Harry had added it to the short list of things he could safely eat in the ocean.

It was a few small pink fish he had managed to snag from a nearby school that he currently munched on. Harry had spied them when Snap and Snoop went off to hunt for their own dinners.

"Human! We spotted a whale on our hunt. That means that there are dolphins near the surface! Let's go!"

The bright pink of the fish disappeared behind a light blue as Harry slurped up the tail of one of his fish before turning to see his tiny golden companion whipping around in excitement while his silver friend floated off to the side.

"Yes, finish your food. I would like to see just how abysmal your 'Dolphin' has become."

Harry quickly tore through the last two fish with his sharp teeth, swallowed, and scoffed at Snap. "The only reason I couldn't swim with the last pod was because they didn't like my dark appearance. It's not my fault that I'm not light-skinned like I used to be."

Snap appeared to look Harry up and down before he stubbornly said, "...We shall see."

-

"Human, we should leave."

Harry stuck his head out from an opening in the deck of a wrecked ship to look at Snap.

"Why? We only just got here. I really want to see its insides! I've never been inside an empty ship. Plus, it looks almost undisturbed! There might still be gold inside."

"And what would you be able to do with gold? It's not like you've been to the surface since you came to bother me."

Harry looked down at the rotting wood boards of the ship as he tried to think of a response. Snap was right. He had never gone to the surface in all his time with the snipe eels, so what would he gain from finding gold?

"Don't be such a meanie, Snap! I want to explore too." Snoop swam from Snap's side to Harry's. The golden eel turned and hissed, "If you don't like it, you can just go hunt or something. We can meet up once Human and I are done," before he disappeared into the belly of the ship.

Harry giggled when Snap began grumbling to himself again as he swam to follow Snoop.

Harry gasped as he caught sight of a wooden, chest-shaped object hidden underneath the decomposing skeleton of an old crew member. Snoop was already trying to weasel his way around the last rags of the old cloth still surviving.

Harry giggled when Snoop got stuck, and gently scooped up the skeleton to help him. It was then, with the skeleton in his arms, that Harry felt the floor beneath his flippers tremble.

Turing wide, bioluminescent eyes onto Snap, Harry silently conceded to the silver eel's earlier point. They had to get out of there.

Dropping the skeleton to grab Snoop and Snap, Harry kicked his legs as hard as they could go to get them out of there.

A shriek reverberated through the ocean as Harry managed to fling himself up and out of the shuddering, sinking ship.

Swimming up and out of the way of the breaking masts, Harry looked down to see what was causing all of the chaos, and could not believe his eyes when he saw the mounds of sand that had been surrounding the ship moving.

Redoubling his efforts to get out of there, Harry's gills shuttered in shock when a massive voice boomed, "**Halt**."

The Potter froze mid-stroke gasping for water, and only after a few moments of calm did he hazard a look over his shoulder.

There, sticking out of the sand in front of the ship he had just been exploring, was a huge alien head. It was easily as tall as the body of the ship and bright blue with horns the length of the ship attached on either side of its circular skull. Three sets of pupil-less, glowing yellow eyes were locked onto Harry, and the child was sure the being was staring straight into his very soul.

"Yes?"

The yellow eyes all narrowed in unison causing chills to spread across Harry's hair-less skin. The being's mouth fell open to show off a huge chasm of darkness not even Harry's improved eyesight could penetrate. And from this murky depth, the commanding voice originated.

"**You have disturbed my hoard. For this, I would normally grant you death**."

Harry sucked in a sharp breathe of water as his brain began to comprehend the amount of danger he was in. Harry needed to get out of here. He opened his own mouth to plead for his life when the being continued, "**However, you speak the language of my kin. This brings solace to my old mind. If you leave now, I shall forgive your crimes and let you live another day**."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. This great being wasn't going to actually kill him? He had been saved because he could speak to the being? The reasoning baffled the young child's mind.

Ignoring his questions for now, Harry bowed quickly, squeaked out a 'Thank you, o' Great One!', and turned tail and fled. He ignored the rumbling behind him, the insults from Snap, and the complaints of Snoop in order to get as far away from the ancient creature as he possibly could.

-

Harry smiled next to the grumbling Snap as he watched Snoop disturb the nearby schools of fish. The odd trio had ascended to a brighter portion of the ocean on that day because Snoop had expressed an extreme desire to scare as many fish as he could.

Harry frowned a bit when Snoop stopped chasing after one of the fleeing fish though. The Potter wondered why he stopped, as he normally played for a much longer time.

"Hey Human! Look, there are more humans behind you!"

Harry's heart leapt into his throat as he quickly turned around. His eyes widened before he blinked in shock. Sure enough, it was easy to spot the dark-skinned humanoid figures swimming downwards from what must have been the hull of a small ship.

Panic flooded Harry's senses; he did not want to get caught and have to go back to living with the Dursleys. The young child's head swiveled rapidly from side to side as he searched for a place to hide.

Spotting a nearby coral reef, Harry sprint-swam towards it, anxiously looking for any sort of hole or outcropping that he could fit under.

After a few minutes, Harry found one and quickly swam over to it. He slipped under the reef overhang and scrunched his eyes closed, as he tried to reassure himself that they wouldn't be able to find him. He wouldn't go back, he wouldn't.

Snap was the only one to realize it was not the inept humans' fault that they could not see what was right in front of their eyes when they swam before the shaking Potter.

-

Harry giggled as he twirled in the center of a circle of sharks, gently petting each one that glided forward. After the event a long time ago that had left one of his feet mangled, Harry had gotten over his irrational hatred of sharks. After all, had he not been dragged out to sea by the creature, he wouldn't have escaped the Dursleys or gained two awesome eel friends.

Not to mention that the sharks reminded Harry of Mrs. Figgs' cats when they brushed up against his sides and booped him with their snouts. They were really quite harmless if you could understand them.

Snap and Snoop just watched a good distance away in stunned silence. Not even Snoop was dumb enough to get that close to a school of sharks.

-

Harry's eyes widened in awe, and his mouth opened in shock. Forgetting about his hunt, the young Potter swam closer to the elegant creatures he couldn't take his eyes off of.

And as he got closer, the enraptured child reached out reverently to pet the fluffy-looking fish, only to shriek when the furry salmon whipped around and snapped at his fingers.

Clutching his bleeding hand to his chest, Harry watched in horror as all of the white-haired creatures in the school slowly turned to look at him in unison. Hundreds of beady eyes penetrated his form, and Harry started to swim backwards slowly.

The school suddenly jerked towards him aggressively, and Harry flipped around and took off before they could snap at him any more with their tiny, sharp teeth.

-

Turtles. Who could hate turtles?

Of all the creatures that the human could be afraid of, turtles weren't even on the list.

"Aww. Human, look! It's a little baby turtle."

Harry turned wide eyes onto Snoop and the baby turtle, before he slowly swam backwards, retreating in the face of this 'evil'.

"Human, that turtle is roughly the size of your palm. What could it possibly do to you?" Snap hissed.

"Bite me," was the terrified child's quiet reply.

Snap slithered right up to the human's face and stared into his strange eyes. "And would that kill you?"

Much to his disgust, the human replied, "Yes."

"How could a baby turtle possibly kill you?" Snap... snapped. Thinking introspectively, Snap quietly admitted to himself that the human had named him accordingly, though not very well.

"They have a secret poison that everyone except for my family is immune to." Snap rolled his eyes at the sheer belief present in the human's tone, as well as his foolishly defensive posture.

"I can assure you, Human, that you are not special. Turtles will not poison you."

Snap watched, dully resigned, as the Human looked at him dubiously and hissed, "How would you know? You're not a Potter."

Snap turned and swam away.


	4. ChapterFour

"Ah'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore. Ah tried ta find little 'Arry, but all Ah saw was water when the owls turned around."

Dumbledore hummed from behind his disorganized desk while the half-giant rocked on his heels nervously. Dumbledore momentarily forgot about Rubeus' presence as he thought on the information that had just been given to him. For some reason, the letters addressed to Harry Potter were not being delivered.

It couldn't be because the child was dead, Dumbledore decided, as he distinctly heard the soft whirs and chirps of his many monitoring charms. They would all start to scream if the boy was in any real danger.

Perhaps he was on some sort of cruise with his family? That would explain the water, but the owls wouldn't have simply turned around. The spells cast on them would allow the owls to find the boat and the receiver of their letter so long as they weren't being explicitly hidden.

Dumbledore paled slightly as a dark feeling slowly sank in his gut. "Hagrid?"

The half-giant straightened in shock at the sudden address after the last few minutes of silence before he replied, "Yes, Professor?"

Dumbledore put on his most reassuring smile as he said, "I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out in no time. Thank you for the important information. I think I might send Severus out to see if Harry is on a muggle ship of some sort."

The headmaster gave a silent sigh as he spotted the Gatekeeper's large shoulders slump underneath his bushy beard. "For now, why don't you go get the stone? By the time you get back, I'm sure we'll have found Harry."

Rubeus' attitude suddenly did a one-eighty as he smiled in both parts relief and happiness, crying 'Yes, sir!' The big half-giant then exited Dumbledore's office in an excited manner the headmaster knew was quite unique to the Gatekeeper.

It was only a few minutes later that a silvery phoenix zipped through the illustrious halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry carrying a message from the headmaster to the feared Potions Master, of whom was currently brewing potions for the Hogwarts Mediwitch, Madam Pomfrey.

-

Severus glowered silently as he flew over the crashing waves of the Philippine Sea, fighting against the buffeting winds and pelting rain to stay upright on the blasted broom he had ridden all the way there. The owl he was following faired little better in the face of the storm, but at least it didn't have potions to get back to. As soon as this entire ordeal would be over with, it would just go back to its perch in the Hogwarts Owlery and sleep for a few days. Severus had no such luxury. After dealing with the Potter brat, he would be right back in his potions lab, up for nights on end attempting to get the Hospital Wing's potions stock prepared for the onslaught of whiny children Hogwarts put up for the greater part of every year.

The Potions Master ground his teeth as he thought of just who he would have to deal with for the next seven years as well. The Boy-Who-Lived that seemed to follow after his arrogant father and cause problems for everyone around him, especially Severus himself.

The glowering man could just picture what the boy looked like. He was probably the spitting image of his father with uncontrollable hair, poor eyesight, a gangly body, and an arrogant smirk permanently plastered upon his face. What made matters worse was knowing that the demon spawn had Lily's eyes.

Severus snarled to himself at the thought, but was abruptly cut off by the roar of thunder that was much louder than it had been previously.

Warily looking at the dark, foreboding sky above him, Severus clutched his broom tighter in his hands and hunched his shoulders against the sting of the rain and the push of the strong gales. As soon as he found Potter and gave him his blasted letter, he could return to Hogwarts. He had to bare this just until then.

In the next moment after this thought, thunder rattled across the sky and Severus' sight went blindingly white. His ears rang, and his body went stiff with pain.

Severus couldn't even think as the magic in his broom failed and the paralyzed wizard took a nosedive into the frothing water below.

Luckily, the shock of the cold ocean ignited a few muscles in his body, allowing Severus to think and order his hands to release his broom. He quickly grabbed for his wand, but that was where his luck seemed to end, for his lack of air was starting to make it even harder to think and his muscles weren't responding as they normally would. To make matters worse, his thick potions robes were impossibly heavy from water absorption.

With his fading consciousness and burning lack of air, Severus reached for his wand, but all he could do was feebly push at his obstructing robes before his mind shut down.

-

"_Another human! Wow, we see them a lot, don't we?"_

_"Oh, come now, Human. This one looks almost dead. It can't harm you."_

_"...what do you mean, 'almost'?"_

_"Look at the belly. You can see it's moving, but the head is turning blue. That means it'll die from lack of air soon."_

_"Fine! The Dursleys can eat themselves! I'm not just going to let a human die!_"

-

Severus groaned as his consciousness fully awoke and alerted him to his body's destroyed state. His mind was muddled, his eyes burned, his mouth was intolerably dry, his arms and legs were numb, his chest were sore, and whatever he was lying on was too hard to be a bed. Still, he needed to get up. Merlin knows where he was.

Trying to think back on the last thing he remembered, Severus' mind started to clear, and he easily put two and two together. He had been struck by lightning flying through that confounded storm, and someone must have saved him. Despite his savior, Severus still had a wretched job to do, so he couldn't stick around long.

Gritting his teeth in preparation, Severus growled as he slowly forced his shaking arm up, off of the surface he was laying on. This proved to be his limit, however, as when Severus tried to bend his arm to grab his wand, it immediately fell back down. Pain rocked his body as his arm smacked the hard surface below him, and Severus couldn't contain his yell.

Staying as still as possible and breathing hard through the pain, Severus settled for just trying to open his heavy eyes. It took a great deal of mental resilience, but he managed to crack one eye open after a few minutes, and then internally cursed whoever had taken care of him. They had obviously done a horrible job. It was common knowledge that a patient shouldn't wake up to a bright light shining in their face.

Licking his lips, Severus winced at how dry and tender they were. He must have been dehydrated. The burning at the back of his throat testified to that as well. He would need clean water before he tried to talk again. Maybe there was some nearby? And where was the healer? Normally, Poppy would be at his side by now.

Silencing his breathing as much as he could, Severus tried to use his ears to hear what was happening around him, but everything was muted. Had he been captured? It was unlikely, but why else was it so silent? Severus tried to listen harder, onto to be startled by the sudden loud cry of a bird.

Flinching backwards in surprise, Severus yelped as his back abruptly burned with pain. That was it. Growling under his breathe, Severus had decided he had, had enough and forced his eyes open. Blinking rapidly to clear the fogginess and watering out of his eyes, Severus was shocked to see open blue sky. He was still outside? Was he on a boat? He couldn't be, the solid surface underneath him wasn't rocking.

Turning his head to the side, Severus was shocked again when he saw a pair of brilliant emerald green eyes peering at him from just above the surface of the water. The eyes widened and disappeared as soon as Severus made eye-contact with them, but it was enough for Severus to have seen that whatever magical creature it was, it didn't have a sclera.

Lost in his thoughts, Severus turned his head back to stare at the sky, only to wince and return his gaze to his side when he remembered that the sun was too bright. Staring at the waves gently lapping against the edge of the rock he was lying on, Severus tried to come to terms with his situation. He was currently stuck in the middle of the ocean without water, unable to move to get his wand, and abandoned by a shy magical creature the likes he had never even heard of before.

Merlin, he was screwed.


	5. ChapterFive

Severus' meditation was broken by the sound of splashing. Opening his eyes, the wizard was surprised to see the same creature he had spotted a few hours ago. What was more shocking, however, was seeing the rest of the creature. It was humanoid, short, and lean with black skin that had small sections of bright blue and green intermingled within it. It didn't have any hair- though there were bright blue fins that laid upon its head in a stripe down the center- and it's ears stuck out of its head similar to an elf's, but longer. There were pairs of gills running from the eyebrow line to over his ears and down his neck, but Severus couldn't see exactly where they stopped from his viewpoint on the ground. The Potions Master then deduced that it was a male by its thin hips and lack of breasts, as there was no genitalia that he could see.

However, the thing that was being extended towards him from the crouched being's hands held most of Severus' attention due to its putrid stench. It was a dead fish whose head had been sliced off.

"_Please eat this. I'm sorry I can't find something better for you. But don't worry, it tastes good once you get over the smell._"

Severus wondered when he would stop being shocked by the male before him. The being seemed to be hissing at him in an attempt to communicate. It sounded peculiarly like the Parseltongue the Dark Lord always spoke to Nagini with.

He was obviously a magical creature. Perhaps he wanted him to eat the disgusting thing? Severus sighed. "I cannot eat raw fish."

Emerald eyes widened before the male brought the fish up to its thick lips and took a small bite with sharp, pointed teeth. The being swallowed and held the fish back out to a shocked Potions Master.

"I-it... good."

The being could speak English. Though his speech was broken and horse, Severus' mouth fell open just a tad."You... can understand me?"

The being nodded swiftly before giving the fish a little shake and putting it down next to Severus' limp hand. He quickly turned and dived back into the water, but before Severus could call out for him to come back, the Potions Master saw the top half of the being's head resurface with the gills still out of the water working frantically. Severus suddenly realized the reason behind the sudden departure. "You can't breathe air?"

The being closed his eyes and shook his head in the negative before reopening them to flick his wide, innocent gaze from the fish to Severus and back again, encouraging the injured man to eat.

Severus sighed again, feeling a headache beginning to form despite all the other pains that racked his body. His magic may have been healing him, but it was doing a bang-up job without any of his guidance.

A thought occurred to Severus as he looked back to the concerned creature still staring at him. "I can't eat raw fish," Severus repeated, "but I could eat this if you got something for me."

Severus saw the being's eyes widen and then narrow, and he nearly scoffed at the obvious display of emotion. He had a life debt to this being however, so Severus couldn't be too rude to him.

"It's nothing strenuous, I just..." Severus dragged off as he grit his teeth. Of course he had to be struck by lightning. The Potions Master sighed and continued, "I can't move. I have my wand strapped to my left arm. If you could get it and give it to me, I could eat the fish."

The being's eyes widened again before he ducked back under the surface. However, Severus remained calm, and moments later the male re-emerged to climb out of the water.

He hovered over Severus for a moment before kneeling down on the rock and gently shuffling the wizard's cloak around with his wet, webbed hands. As Severus watched the water droplets get absorbed into his robes, he made a mental note to make all his clothes impervious to liquid. When he had originally gotten his clothes, Severus had denied having the expensive spells applied, as he was a Potions Master. However, it seems that he had overlooked the possibility of getting wet from other liquids.

Severus flinched when the being's cold hands suddenly touched his skin, and the male hissed lightly in what seemed an apology before withdrawing, the wizard's wand clasped in his black and blue hand. It was then that Severus received yet another surprise, though this one was more unpleasant than the others.

The being hissed again as a small jet of green sparks flew from Severus' wand. The Potions Master cursed his versatile wand wood softly before he lifted his arm, grabbing the attention of the distracted magical being.

"S-sorry..."

Severus sighed lightly at the apology as he held and reconnected with his wand. He didn't have the strength or the concentration to be mad right now. He just needed to heal himself the best he could, get rid of the life debt to this creature, find that blasted Potter, give him his letter, and apparate back to Hogwarts.

"Accio Wiggenweld potion and burn paste."

The male watched curiously as the two jars floated out of Severus' emergency potions stash and unsealed themselves. The Potions Master used his magic to guid the wiggenweld potion to his mouth and hold it there as he drank the entire bottle. Severus had long since become accustomed to the terrible taste of potions, so the man easily relaxed his head back onto the rock he laid on to allow the potion to do its job. In a matter of moments, his head began to clear and the soreness in his arms and legs receded enough for him to finally sit up.

Growling lowly at the pain, Severus reached for the burn paste and noticed the magical male had retreated back into the water again. It was only bewildered emerald eyes that watched the wizard as he found the most affected areas of his body and generously distributed burn paste to them.

Feeling wholly better than he had when he woke up, Severus tucked his depleted supplies back into his emergency kit and turned his gaze to the interesting creature looking up at him from the water.

"You were the one who pulled me from the water and placed me here, yes?"

The creature closed its eyes and nodded before climbing back out of the water. He looked at Severus shrewdly for a moment, his forehead crinkling, before he copied Severus' sitting position on the ground.

The Potions Master ignored the obvious lack of knowledge the male had in order to say, "I owe you my thanks."

The being smiled widely, showing off his sharp teeth, before he closed his eyes to shake his head. Severus' lips thinned in distaste as he realized getting rid of his life debt may be harder than he originally though.

Staring at the magical creature as he thought of exactly what to do, Severus cursed when his mind finally caught up with what he had been seeing.

"Potter."

The creature- no, the Boy-Who-Lived turned curious emerald eyes- the same shade as Lily's- onto Severus as the wizard's face darkened. The Potions Master looked at the boy's form in mounting anger.

"What have you done, you stupid boy?"

Severus watched as Potter's face went from confused to scared in a matter of seconds. The transformed boy quickly scrambled up to dive back into the ocean, but Severus was faster.

The enraged wizard grabbed Potter's wet leg from where he was sitting, but the idiotic boy was already halfway into the water, inevitably pulling the injured professor in with him.

Closing his eyes and gasping on impact with the cold, salty water, Severus fought to keep hold of the thrashing boy and get to the surface for air. However, the recent trauma and change of element did Severus in, as Potter managed to slip away and the Potions Master struggled to swim with his waterlogged robes.

Severus cursed as he sank, not believing his idiocy. He had let his wand slip from his fingers when he lunged after Potter, so attempting a magical escape was impossible. And whatever he had said had obviously scared the brat, so it would be improbable that he would help Severus again. The only person who could save him now was himself. The Potions Master was already too deep though, and the need to breathe was getting stronger by the second.

After a few minutes of fruitless kicking and arm-waving, Severus resigned himself to watching as the surface got further and further away. The need to breathe was clouding over his thoughts and burning at his chest, but Severus could only think of Lily as his consciousness started fading away. _I failed you, Lily. I'm sorry._

-

_"You're going to let it die now? What a waste of time."_

_"Well-"_

_"And here I thought you were finally getting over your silly fear of those 'Dursleys'."_

_"...fine."_

-

Severus gagged as his consciousness rushed forwards. The smell of something rotten filled his nose. The Potions Master couldn't even open his eyes before he turned his head and threw up.

Gasping as his stomach finally started to settle after minutes of the suffocation of retching, Severus opened his eyes and noted that he hadn't eat anything in nearly a day, so all that had come up was mostly water and bile.

Severus pursed his lips in disgust before turning back to see the brat crouching in front of him with a handful of seaweed.

Severus opened his mouth to curse at the fact that he now had _two_ life debts to this child, but not a single syllable came out as the wizard started coughing horsely.

Grabbing for his wand blindly, Severus mentally clicked his tongue as it was put right into his hand. His own inability to do things by himself was starting to get on his nerves.

Non-verbally casting vacuo, the lung-clearing spell, Severus slowly managed to get his coughing under control. Taking deep breathes, the Potions Master reluctantly decided that the best way to deal with the scared child he owed two life debts to was with at least a little bit of patience. _Though if the reason behind his appearance and presence in the ocean was anything less than satisfactory_, Severus thought to himself, _Merlin help the brat_.

-

"_Are you alright now? Do you need anything else?_"

Severus sighed lightly as the silence he and the fidgeting Potter had been sitting in was finally broken. He looked down at the emerald eyes that were watched him from where the eleven-year-old was in the water before continuing to eat the fish he had cooked with some small bluebell flames. "English please, child. I cannot understand Parseltongue."

Emerald eyes blinked before Severus saw them fill with curiosity. "P-parsss- parssasss- parssssen-"

Severus swallowed his bite of fish- which was, as the child had said, 'good'- before repeating, "Parseltongue. It is the language you are speaking, the language of snakes."

Severus watched as the child's emerald eyes filled with understanding, and then shining stars, before he cried, "water ssnakessss!" with his arms lifted in the air jubilantly.

Severus expertly hid his annoyance, and asked, "Do you mean eels, Mister Potter?"

The eleven-year-old seemed very excited, as he smiled widely at Severus, held up his hand in a 'halt' motion, and dove under the water.

The wizard sighed, shook his head, and ate the rest of his fish. It seemed patience was working, but the language barrier was going to become a nuisance very quickly. There would be a lot of guessing and yes or no questions in the upcoming conversation- of that, Severus was certain.


	6. ChapterSix

Severus flinched lightly when the little Potter exploded from the surface of the water, showering the Potions Master in water in his excitement.

"Water ssnake friendsss!"

Severus looked at the eels curled around the child's arms in vague interest. These animals were what he considered friends?

The wizard waited until the snipe eels were lowered back into the water to speak. "Do you have any other friends, Mister Potter? Perhaps, a human one?"

The changed child shook his head with a frown before he looked down at the rock under his hands and said, "Dudley... ssscared them."

Severus raised a dark eyebrow. A boy had scared away Potter's friends? Potter had probably annoyed this 'Dudley' so much that the boy retaliated by scaring his friends. So childish.

"I don' wha-wanna goo back! Dursleys mean!"

Severus' mind immediately latched onto the name. He had heard it before... The Potions Master's brain started working double time. Lily had once been talking to him about an oaf named Vernon Dursley, the boyfriend of Lily's sister, Petunia. The only ways Potter could end up near Vernon was though extreme coincidence or Petunia had married the man and Dumbledore had left Potter with them.

Severus believed more in the latter, but he still had to make certain. "Mister Potter?"

The changed boy looked at the Potions Master in fear, his webbed hands clutching the sharp edges of the rock tightly.

"You won't have to go back," Severus coaxed, "but I do want to ask you about these Dursleys."

Potter's ears perked up a little bit and his emerald eyes widened as he repeated, "No have to go back?"

Severus nodded, "No going back."

The child smiled widely, giggled, and clapped his hands. The Potions Master took that as his okay to continue.

"Were you living with your Aunt Petunia?"

The boy nodded, his smile falling into a frown. Severus cursed. Damn that Dumbledore. Petunia wasn't fit to raise the son of Lily. She hated her sister with a passion. It was no wonder Potter would not want to go back. However, why was he living in the ocean? And furthermore, how did he even get all the way to the Philippine Sea?

"Mister Potter," the Potions Master called, "How did you get to the ocean?"

The child giggled as if he had said something funny before slurring, "Wass ssswimmin'. T'ought it wasss Dudley pullin' on my foot. But mean sshark pull me down. Real mean sssharkie." Potter looked at the water glumly before his head perked up. "I like sharkies! But thisss wass mean sharkie." The changed child reaffirmed before he continued, "I no breathe. Then I wake up breathin'!" The brat looked at him with happy eyes and an expectant expression. Severus was apparently supposed to be impressed and amazed.

The Potions Master simply replied, "Very nice, Mister Potter. I am glad you could breathe."

When the man said nothing more, Potter decided to add onto his story. "An' I gotss a floppy foot!" The child floated on his back and held up one of his feet, and, sure enough, it was thinner and longer than a normal foot with smaller toes and scars running down half of it. Potter then proceeded to flip it around wildly with a giggle to show off its flexibility.

Severus held the bridge of his nose in exasperation as his mind processed the story. A shark. The child had been attacked by a shark. Of all the things.

However, this did not explain his appearance other than his foot and gills. It is obvious that Potter's magic has been active since he was drowned by the shark. Perhaps his appearance has something more to do with adapting to his surroundings than anything else.

"Mister Potter, how old were you when that happened?"

The boy blinked before he looked down at his webbed hands. He maneuvered his fingers so that only a few were up before he brandished them. "I'm sseven!" He exclaimed.

Severus sighed. He had been living in the ocean for four years. It was obvious that he had received very little education and hadn't spoken English for that long as well. Not to mention it was very difficult for him to breathe outside of the water.

This could all lead to many problems with trying to get him into Hogwarts.

One thing was for sure though, the Potions Master could not leave the Potter heir here. It was obvious he had no solid home due to being in the Philippine Sea- nowhere near England- and it would be another tedious journey to find him again. Perhaps Severus could transport him to the Back Lake and dump this problem child on Dumbledore? It was mainly the old man's fault after all.

Mind made up, Severus bluntly asked the Potter child, "Would you like to go to Hogwarts with me?"

The distracted child put his flipper foot back in the water and turned his confusion to the Potions Master, parroting, "Hogwartss?"

Severus hummed lightly in annoyance. Of course Petunia didn't tell Lily's son about magic. "Hogwarts is a school full of magic. There is a giant lake there that you could swim in. A giant squid and merfolk live there."

The boy's eyes lit up in fascination. "A giant ssquid?!"

Severus internally rolled his eyes. Children were too naive. "I can take you there, but I want to make sure you can breathe in that water."

The child looked at Severus, bewildered, but there was no suspicion in his eyes. That was good. It would've been a pain to deal with a child that was cautious of his every move.

Enlarging a pebble and then transfiguring it into a large bowl, Severus filled it up with regular fresh water with a quick aguamenti.

Handing it over to Potter, the child looked at the water for a second before he touched it with a clawed finger. He frowned a little bit, but brought his head out of the water and stuck his face into bowl.

After roughly thirty seconds of Severus staring at the gills moving on Potter's neck, the child brought his face out of the bowl with an odd look on his face.

"That'sss weird," he said. "It'sss cold."

Severus nodded as he banished the water and returned the bowl to what it once was. If Potter's only complaint was that the water was cold, then he would be fine. A simple warming charm would be all he would need for the time being. Dumbledore could figure out how he would breathe on land.

"Would you like to go now, Mister Potter?" Severus stood up and reached out a hand, fixing a picture of the gates of Hogwarts in his mind.

However, the child did not accept his hand. "Friendsss?" He questioned.

Severus thought for a second on what he knew of snipe eels, which was admittedly very little. They were not a potions ingredient that he was aware of. Perhaps he could transfigure them into freshwater eels? The magic was all about intent, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

"You may bring them with as long as you allow me to cast a spell on them first."

The child simply smiled before he dove back underneath the surface of the water. Severus grunted lightly when his legs started to ache, but he shifted and ignored the pain. His injuries would be healed shortly.

When Potter resurfaced with the eels wrapped around his arms again, Severus quickly cast two strong transfiguration spells on the eels with the sole intent to allow them to breathe in freshwater.

Confident in his magic, Severus outstretched his free hand once more, and Potter took it without hesitance. And in a moment, all four beings apparated away from the lone rock in the middle of the Philippine Sea with a small pop.


End file.
